BUDS. 



[SECTION 4- 



formed, they are concealed all summer long under the base of the leaf-stalk, 

 which is then hollowed out into a sort of inverted cup, like a candle- 

 extinguisher, to cover them ; as in the Locust, the Yellow-wood, or more 

 strikingly in the Button- wood or Plane-tree (Fig. 74). 



50. The leaf-scars, so conspicuous in Fig. 72, 73, under each axillary 

 bud, mark the place where the stalk of the subtending leaf was attached 

 until it fell in autumn. 



51. Scaly Buds, which are well represented in Fig. 72, 73, commonly 

 belong to trees and shrubs of countries in which growth is suspended dur- 

 ing winter. The scaly coverings protect the tender young parts beneath, 

 not so much by keeping out the cold, which of course would penetrate the 

 bud in time, as by shielding the interior from the effects of sudden changes. 

 There are all gradations between these and 



52. Naked Buds, in which these scales are inconspicuous or wanting, 

 as in most herbs, at least above ground, and most tropical trees and shrubs. 

 But nearly related plants of the same climate may differ widely in this re- 

 spect. Rhododendrons have strong and scaly winter-buds ; while in Kalmia 

 they are naked. One species of Viburnum, the Hobble-bush, has com- 

 pletely naked buds, what would be a pair of scales developing into the first 

 leaves in spring; while another (the Snowball) has conspicuous scaly buds. 



53. Vigor of Vegetation from strong buds. Large and strong buds, 

 like those of the Horse-chestnut, Hickory, and the like, contain several 

 leaves, or pairs of leaves, ready formed, folded and packed away in small 

 compass, just as the seed-leaves of a strong embryo are packed away in the 

 seed : they may even contain all the blossoms of the ensuing season, plainly 

 visible as small buds. And the stems upon which these buds rest are filled 

 vrith abundant nourishment, which was deposited the summer before in the 



FIG. 74. An axillary bud, concealed under the hollowed base of the leafstalk, 

 in Buttonwood or Plane-tree. 



